Tigers of a Different Stripe: Performing Gender in Dominican Music (Chicago Studies in Ethnomusicology)

__Tigers of a Different Stripe__ takes readers inside the unique world of __merengue típico__, a traditional music of the Dominican Republic. While in most genres of Caribbean music women usually participate as dancers or vocalists, in merengue típico they are more often instrumentalists and even bandleaders—something nearly unheard of in the macho Caribbean music scene. Examining this cultural phenomenon, Sydney Hutchinson offers an unexpected and fascinating account of gender in Dominican art and life. Drawing on over a decade of fieldwork in the Dominican Republic and New York among musicians, fans, and patrons of merengue típico—not to mention her own experiences as a female instrumentalist—Hutchinson details a complex nexus of class, race, and artistic tradition that unsettles the typical binary between the masculine and feminine. She sketches the portrait of the classic male figure of the __tíguere__, a dandified but sexually aggressive and street-smart “tiger,” and she shows how female musicians have developed a feminine counterpart: the __tíguera__, an assertive, sensual, and respected female figure who looks like a woman but often plays and even sings like a man. Through these musical figures and studies of both straight and queer performers, she unveils rich ambiguities in gender construction in the Dominican Republic and the long history of a unique form of Caribbean feminism. Drawing on over a decade of fieldwork in the Dominican Republic and New York among musicians, fans, and patrons of merengue típico--not to mention her own experiences as a female instrumentalist--Hutchinson details a complex nexus of class, race, and artistic tradition that unsettles the typical binary between the masculine and feminine. She sketches the portrait of the classic male figure of the tíguere, a dandified but sexually aggressive and street-smart "tiger," and she shows how female musicians have developed a feminine counterpart: the tíguera, an assertive, sensual, and respected female figure who looks like a woman but often plays and even sings like a man. Through these musical figures and studies of both straight and queer performers, she unveils rich ambiguities in gender construction in the Dominican Republic and the long history of a unique form of Caribbean feminism. --Publisher description Introduction A gendered history Tatico forever Fefita the Great Filosofía de calle : transnational tigueraje Temporary transvestites : cross-dressing merengue, bachata, and reggaetón Listening sideways : the transgenre work of Rita Indiana Dispatch from an imaginary island Appendix A. Dominican musics mentioned in this book Appendix B. A comparison of two accordionists' botaos Appendix C. Movement and gesture analysis of Fefita la Grande performing "La chiflera."